Taika Waititi to Direct Pilot Presentation of His New Zealand Comedy 'Super City' for ABC

Taika Waititi, the New Zealand-born filmmaker behind Sundance picks "Eagle vs Shark" and "Boy," is attached to direct a pilot presentation for "Super City" for ABC. According to Deadline, the potential series is a U.S. remake of a New Zealand show of the same name featuring Madeleine Sami, New Zealand's answer to Tracey Ullman.

Taika Waititi, the New Zealand-born filmmaker behind Sundance picks "Eagle vs Shark" and "Boy," is attached to direct a pilot presentation for "Super City" for ABC. According to Deadline, the potential series is a U.S. remake of a New Zealand show of the same name featuring Madeleine Sami, New Zealand's answer to Tracey Ullman.

On the original, which Waititi also directed, Sami played five different characters who all live in Auckland City -- an aging actress/party girl, an Iranian taxi driver, a closeted trainer, a woman who works to support impoverished artists and a homeless girl who finds a baby in a dumpster (a trailer for the six-episode series is below).

Sami would return as creator and star of the adaptation, which will presumably have to be shifted for U.S. sensibilities, since the footage below looks grounded in New Zealand specifics that may have a hard time translating in terms of humor. But Waititi's got some experience in converting shows across cultures -- he also directed the pilot for MTV's adaptation of British teen sitcom "The Inbetweeners," which is likely to start airing sometime this year.